There are no real surprises in the team selection bar the much expected(?) dropping of Yuvraj Singh and the resting of Sachin Tendulkar at his own request.

Yusuf Pathan has been dropped purportedly because of his inability to play short-pitched bowling. I guess the ones without a godfather are the first ones to feel the selector’s ire.

Quote of the day: Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally. - Abraham Lincoln

Yuvraj Singh should have been ditched a long time ago; he is patently unfit and in this new look Indian team, it is difficult to hide any player in the field.

Ashish Nehra , despite the rumors in the media of being discarded for disciplinary reasons, has been handed a reprieve. His performance since his return to the Indian side speaks volumes and left the selectors with no choice but to overlook his alleged transgressions.

Tendulkar, in my opinion, should have retired a la Kumble from ODIs and T20s but that is probably not going to happen until the 2011 World Cup. Of course, Tendulkar is a performer nonpareil but the fact remains that he now chooses which ODI games to play; this could cause some rancor in deserving players who perform when he’s not around. But then hush, we are talking about a legend here!

MS Dhoni’s captaincy will be under scrutiny once more. But that is the bane of Indian cricket captains ; lose a few and you have the media baying for your blood. Not that there are any real contenders for the captaincy. Sehwag does not wish to lead the team and would prefer the selectors to look to the future.Funny having a vice-captain who does not wish to be captain! Gambhir seems captaincy material but just not yet.

Saurabh Tiwary, on the back of his exploits in the IPL , makes an appearance on the Indian team roster. Whether he gets to play a game is another matter altogether.

The immensely talented Rohit Sharma returns to the Indian team based on his performances in the Zimbabwe tri-series - 2 back to back tons.

Good luck to the Indian team at Dambulla!

The other teams in the fray include Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.